Ho, ho, ho, knotty. A sense of deju va all over again. We have other recorded instances of this conversation in other threads, though it has been awhile.
To recap, my argument is that silk stretches. It stretches from being worn because of the weight of the pearls. If silk is washed and not carefully laid out to dry with no weight on it, the silk stretches, even laid out it may be getting loose knots as cyens says. The silk from old pearls often stinks, just as cyens says. It may have food or liquids embedded in it not to mention perfumes and product smells, all from from direct contact from same. I used silk for decades, but jumped ship to other products such as Bernadette mentions.
If one can afford a great SS necklace, one can certainly get it reknotted as the silk ages, but for the majority of civilians, silk is silly. One can wash a pearl necklace strung on anything from griffon to power-pro, including the Japanese thread and the Australian thread. All can be washed with fewer problems than silk, all can even be worn in the shower. The man-made threads do not shrink or stretch, they repel most food and product, AND they can be washed after every use. Some products like Kay Gee beading thread from Australia come in a number of colors. All have great drape, virtually indistinguishable from silk.
I don't mind if people disagree with my forward conclusions and I always love a good reason for using silk, but I haven't found one that holds water except "customers want it"
I have all natural p. radiatas and Chinese cultured freshwater pearls, except my 1 strand of Tahitians. I do not need to fulfill customer instructions for silk, so I am free to experiment. I find my pearls love to be in water and to be washed with the gentle clarifying shampoos that naturally fall from my head in the shower. Just enough to obtain perfect cleanliness every time. No dirty, stinky thread that stretches when wet.
Hugs
